India Set to Play Leading Role in Domestic, Global Electronics Sector: Jitin Prasada
India is positioning itself as a major player in both domestic and global electronics markets, driven by a suite of government incentives. Minister of State Jitin Prasada highlighted the approval of ten semiconductor projects worth roughly $19 billion and the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) that has drawn about $7.4 billion from 75 firms, creating over 65,000 jobs. The government plans to expand ECMS funding to nearly $4.8 billion to deepen the local component supply chain and reduce reliance on imports. Officials stress a shift from mere assembly to full‑value‑chain manufacturing.
Bharti Airtel Keen to Work with OTT Cos to Fight Spam: Rahul Vatts
Bharti Airtel announced it will collaborate with OTT communication providers to expand its AI‑driven anti‑spam program, building on a recent partnership with Google that routes RCS messages through Airtel’s spam filters. The telco reports having blocked 71 billion spam calls and...
TRAI Proposes Mandating Telcos to Offer Affordable Plans for Voice, SMS Services Only
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has drafted an amendment requiring every operator to provide at least one special tariff voucher (STV) that includes only voice and SMS for each validity period currently offered with data. The regulator observed...
Mandate States, Departments, PSUs to Use BSNL 4G Services: Employees to PM Modi
BSNL employee unions have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging a mandatory shift to the state‑run carrier’s 4G network for all government offices, departments and public‑sector undertakings. They argue the move would reinforce India’s telecom sovereignty, support BSNL’s financial...
Knowledge-Sharing Between OTTs, Telcos to Help Combat Scam: GSMA’s Julian Gorman
GSMA’s Asia‑Pacific head Julian Gorman announced a new cross‑sector anti‑scam task force that brings together telcos, OTTs and tech giants such as Google and Meta to share threat intelligence. In India, the Department of Telecommunications used an AI‑driven ASTR tool...
IBM Deploys AI-Ready Data Lakehouse for India’s Tata Play Fiber
IBM has implemented an AI‑ready data lakehouse built on its watsonx platform for Tata Play Fiber, India’s leading fiber broadband provider. The solution merges 25 separate data sources into a unified, scalable environment, enabling real‑time analytics and advanced AI workloads. By consolidating...
Centre Set to Prioritise Memory Chips Under Semicon Mission 2.0
India’s Semiconductor Mission 2.0 (ISM 2.0) will give priority to advanced memory packaging, specifically high‑bandwidth memory (HBM), to support the growing AI data‑center market. The second phase, backed by roughly ₹1 lakh crore (about $12 billion), shifts focus from a broad ecosystem to targeted...
India's 60 Mn SMBs May Present Next Big Revenue Opportunity for Telcos: Experts
India’s telecom operators face stagnant ARPU around ₹180‑200 ($2‑$2.5) per month as subscriber growth stalls at 1.17 billion. Analysts estimate that targeting the country’s 60 million small and medium enterprises could unlock up to ₹50,000 crore ($6 billion) in annual revenue through commissions, cloud...
Recover Outstanding Damages, Non-Performance Penalty of Rs 8.49 Cr From Airtel: CAG
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has urged Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) to recover ₹8.49 crore (≈ $1 million) in liquidated damages and non‑performance penalties from Bharti Airtel. The penalties arise from Airtel’s failure to meet its 2017‑2019 agreement to commission 756 rural...
Bharti Airtel Achieves 650 Mn Subscriber Milestone
Bharti Airtel announced it has crossed 650 million subscribers worldwide, spanning its Indian and African operations. The telecom now ranks second globally by mobile customer base, behind China Mobile, with 386 million mobile users in India and 179 million in Africa. Airtel highlighted...
India's Telecom Imports From China Rise to $6.37 Billion in 2023-24: Pemmasani
India’s telecom imports from China climbed to $6.37 billion in the 2023‑24 fiscal year, up from $5.55 billion in 2019‑20. Total telecom‑equipment imports rose to $17.01 billion, reflecting a broader expansion in the sector. To curb dependence, the government introduced a public procurement...
CBI Registers Fresh Case Against RCom, Anil Ambani
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a fresh criminal case against industrialist Anil Ambani and his former telecom venture Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM). The case alleges that RCOM induced the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to buy...
Banks, Telcos to Chuck OTPs, Adopt Silent Authentication
India’s leading private banks and telecom operators are jointly phasing out traditional one‑time passwords in favor of a silent authentication system that validates the mobile number linked to a banking app against the SIM currently active on the device. The...
Eutelsat in Talks with India's Space Agency to Boost Satellite Launch Options
Eutelsat is negotiating with India’s ISRO to add launch capacity, aiming to cut dependence on SpaceX and Ariane rockets. The talks come after the OneWeb merger and a plan to launch 440 new satellites, a programme estimated at €2 bn ($2.3 bn)....
Pan-India Monthly 5G Data Traffic Surges 70% On-Year in 2025: Nokia
India’s 5G data traffic surged 70% year‑on‑year to 12.9 exabytes in 2025, according to Nokia’s Mobile Broadband Index 2026. 5G now represents 47% of total mobile broadband traffic, with average monthly consumption per user exceeding 31 GB, an 18% CAGR over...
Jio’s Mathew Oommen Pips Vittal, Kishore to Win Prestigious ‘CEO of the Year’ Award
Mathew Oommen, group CEO of Jio Platforms, captured the ET Telecom Awards 2026 “CEO of the Year” title, edging out Bharti Airtel’s Gopal Vittal and Vodafone Idea’s Abhijit Kishore. Jio also secured “Telecom Network Operator of the Year,” underscoring its rapid 5G expansion...
ECMS: Centre Approves New Projects From Dixon, Lohum, Indo-MIM, Syrma & Others with ₹7,104 Crore Investmens
The Indian government approved 29 electronics component projects under the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme, committing roughly $855 million (₹7,104 crore) in capital. The approved initiatives, led by firms such as Dixon Display, Lohum Cleantech and Indo‑MIM, aim to produce goods worth about...
Market Reset: India Pulls the Plug on Chinese CCTV Makers
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will stop certifying Chinese CCTV brands such as Hikvision and Dahua from April 1, effectively barring them from the market. The new essential requirements mandate disclosure of component origins and vulnerability testing, forcing...
Smartphone PLI Surpasses Targets, Turns Out to Be Right Call for India
India’s smartphone Production‑Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has generated over ₹24 lakh crore (≈$250 billion) in mobile phone output since FY 2020‑21, while the government disbursed roughly ₹21,000 crore (≈$2.5 billion), less than 1% of that value. The program surpassed its original targets of ₹10.5 lakh crore in production...
BSNL to Add up to 60,000 More Towers, FY26 Operating Profit to Grow in Double Digits: Scindia
State‑run BSNL will add 50,000‑60,000 new mobile towers, bringing its total to roughly 1.6 lakh sites, to strengthen its 4G network before a rapid upgrade to 5G. The telecom ministry highlighted a record capital outlay of ₹20,000 crore (about $2.4 billion) for the...
Telcos Navigate Subsea Cable Risks; Centre Asks for Analysis, Fallback Options as War Rages
India’s telecom regulator has asked carriers and subsea‑cable operators to produce a risk analysis and fallback plans as the war in West Asia threatens undersea data pipelines. The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one‑third of India’s westbound traffic to the...
BharatNet Phase 3: Pratap Technocrats Signs ₹8,025 Crore Contract with BSNL for Three Packages
Pratap Technocrats has secured an approximately $980 million contract with state‑run BSNL to design, build, operate and maintain the middle‑mile fiber network for BharatNet Phase 3 in Rajasthan, Haryana and Assam. The deal, covering three packages worth ₹2,839.25 crore, ₹836.78 crore and ₹831.61 crore respectively,...
Sunil Mittal to Retire as Chair of Airtel Africa in July
Sunil Bharti Mittal will retire as chair of Airtel Africa in July 2026, ending a seven‑year tenure that began with the company’s 2019 listing. Gopal Vittal, the executive vice‑chairman of Bharti Airtel and current GSMA chair, will succeed him as non‑executive...
OnePlus India CEO Robin Liu Steps Down, Moves Back to China
OnePlus India CEO Robin Liu has resigned, ending his eight‑year tenure and returning to China, with his last day set for March 31. His departure occurs amid a broader Oppo Group restructuring that consolidates sub‑brand leadership under Realme CEO Sky Li. In...
BSNL’s Caller Name Presentation Service May Launch in 3-4 Months
State‑owned BSNL is testing integration of its Caller Name Presentation (CNAP) service with private operators Jio, Airtel and Vi, aiming for a pan‑India rollout within three to four months. The Centre for Development of Telematics (C‑DoT) has built the solution,...
#ET5GCongress: AI-Led Automation Redefining Telco Operations, Energy Efficiency, Says Airtel CTO Randeep Sekhon
At the ET Telecom 5G Congress, Airtel CTO Randeep Sekhon said AI is becoming a core layer for telecom operations, shifting the industry from reactive fixes to predictive, real‑time problem solving. He highlighted AI’s ability to unify data across network,...
Truecaller Joins Telcos Against AI-Based Number Blocking
Truecaller has aligned with Indian telecom operators to oppose the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) plan to automatically block numbers flagged by AI‑based spam filters. The company argues that AI models are imperfect and that users should retain the...
India's Telecom Subscriber Base Jumps 7.86 Million in January
India’s telecom subscriber base rose by 7.86 million in January, reaching 1.314 billion users. The increase was almost entirely driven by wireless additions of 7.57 million, while broadband subscriptions grew a modest 0.20% to 1.052 billion. Urban markets added 4.89 million subscribers versus 2.97 million in...
India's Digital Economy to Account for 20% of GDP by 2030, Says MeitY Secy S Krishnan
India’s digital economy, currently contributing about 13 % of GDP, is projected to rise to nearly 20 % by 2030, growing at roughly twice the pace of the broader economy. The surge is driven by rapid adoption of artificial intelligence and expanding...
Parliamentary Panel Suggests MeitY Seek Expert Views on GPU Plans
India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT warned the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) that high GPU hardware costs, global supply‑chain delays, and the massive power‑water footprint of data centres threaten the country’s push for large GPU clusters....
Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitendra Singh, Chandra Shekhar Pemmasani to Attend ET's 5G Congress 2026
The Economic Times' ET Telecom is hosting the ninth 5G Congress 2026 and the fifth Telecom Awards on 20 March in New Delhi. Union Ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitendra Singir, and Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani will headline the event, which will draw nearly 400 delegates from government, regulators and leading operators....
Amazon Knocks on DoT's Door to Get Satcom Nod Fast
Amazon’s Project Kuiper has written repeatedly to India’s Department of Telecommunications seeking an expedited satcom permit, as the company lags far behind its 3,200‑satellite launch schedule, having placed only about 200 LEO units to date. The firm hopes the clearance...
Reliance Said to Work with Six Banks for Jio’s Upcoming IPO
Reliance Industries has engaged six investment banks—BofA Securities, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra Capital and Morgan Stanley—to manage the upcoming IPO of its telecom arm, Jio Platforms. The offering could become India’s largest ever, with bankers estimating a...
Tejas Networks Wins Deal to Supply 4G RAN in South Asia
Tejas Networks announced it has secured a contract to supply its 4G radio access network equipment to an unnamed telecom operator in South Asia. The deal, disclosed in a regulatory filing, marks a strategic push to broaden the company’s international...
Reliance Communications Files Review Plea Against SC Order on Spectrum Sale Under IBC
Reliance Communications has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court challenging the February 13 order that bars the sale or transfer of spectrum under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The court held that spectrum, as a scarce public resource,...
Scindia Launches First Integrated Phygital Service Centre in MP's Guna District
Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated India’s first integrated phygital service centre in Umri village, Guna district, Madhya Pradesh. The Samriddh Gram Phygital Services Pilot combines healthcare, education, agriculture, financial and e‑governance services under one roof, powered by BharatNet’s high‑speed...
AAP's Raghav Chadha Reignites Demand for 30-Day Tariffs, Affordable Voice-Only Plan
AAP MP Raghav Chadha has called on Indian telecom operators to align prepaid recharge cycles with calendar months and to keep essential voice and SMS services active long after a pack expires. He also proposed an inexpensive incoming‑only plan for...
TRAI Moots Termination Charges to Tackle Spam
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has drafted rules to impose termination charges on commercial Application‑to‑Person (A2P) calls, aiming to curb bulk spam calls that masquerade as personal conversations. The proposal mirrors existing fees on commercial SMS and exempts...
JSW, ST Telemedia Among Firms Eyeing Stake in Vodafone Idea
India's Vodafone Idea is courting strategic investors as it grapples with heavy debt and a shrinking market share. Singapore‑based ST Telemedia and India's JSW Group have entered exploratory talks to acquire a stake, joining other domestic and foreign suitors. The government,...
CAG's BSNL Loss Estimate From Reliance Jio Deal Misinterpreted; Rectified Now: Pemmasani
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report claimed that BSNL lost ₹1,757.76 crore by not billing Reliance Jio for add‑on technology on shared tower infrastructure between 2014 and 2024. Minister of State for Telecom Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani clarified that the loss estimate stemmed from...
US-Based Emerson Eyes India's Semiconductor Sector Business
Emerson is positioning its test and measurement portfolio to serve semiconductor manufacturers establishing fabs and OSAT facilities in India. Leveraging its 2023 $8.2 billion acquisition of National Instruments, the company is already working with firms like Kaynes Semicon and offers a local...
Centre Acts to Prevent Damage to Underground Utilities During Telecom Cable Laying: Scindia
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced that the government has rolled out multiple safeguards to protect underground utilities, including drinking water pipelines, during telecom cable installations. The 2024 Telecommunication Right of Way Rules empower public entities to set conditions and claim...
SC Upholds Bharti Telecom's Share Capital Reduction
The Supreme Court of India rejected appeals from 35 minority shareholders of Bharti Telecom Limited, upholding the company’s 2018 decision to reduce its share capital by cancelling a small block of shares. The court affirmed that the valuation process, which...
Telecom Tower Companies Express Concern over Stoppage of LPG Supply
Telecom tower manufacturers in India have seen LPG supplies cut off after a government order redirected public‑sector LPG to domestic consumers. The Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) warned that the loss of LPG, which powers galvanization furnaces, could force plants...
Optiemus to Invest ₹156 Crore in Unit Optiemus Electronics
Optiemus Infracom’s board approved a ₹156 crore equity infusion into its wholly‑owned subsidiary Optiemus Electronics (OEL) and a ₹40 crore infusion into GDN Enterprises, both on a right‑issue basis. The transactions raise Optiemus’s shareholdings to 2.43 crore in OEL and 64.33 lakh in GDN,...
MeitY Awaiting Industry Inputs on Plans to Slash Timeline for Data Protection Compliance: S Krishnan
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is considering shortening the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) compliance window for significant data fiduciaries from 18 months to 12 months. The proposal is still under review, with the government awaiting detailed...
Wipro Enterprises Eyes Entry Into Semiconductor Sector
Wipro Enterprises is exploring entry into semiconductor manufacturing, focusing on outsourced assembly and test (OSAT) operations. The company is in early talks and is actively scouting a credible technology partner to enable the move. This initiative follows similar investments by...
Continuous Margin Improvement, Large Deal Rise Reflects Clients' Trust in New Positioning: TechM CEO
Tech Mahindra reported its operating margin expanded to 13.1% in the December 2025 quarter, a 100‑basis‑point rise and the ninth consecutive quarter of improvement. The firm also recorded a 48% surge in large‑deal volume, with total contract value hitting $1.096 billion, the...
Karnataka Hopeful of Attracting Semicon, Components Companies: KDEM CEO
Karnataka is actively courting semiconductor fabrication and OSAT investors, with KDEM CEO Sanjeev Gupta saying the state is in talks with several international firms. Despite interest, some companies have chosen other Indian states for their plants, leaving Karnataka without a...
DoT May Stick to Its 5% Charge for Satcom Spectrum
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is set to retain a 5% adjusted gross revenue (AGR) usage fee for satellite communications (satcom) spectrum, rejecting the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) 4% proposal. DoT will also apply a 1% discount for...
